The unrounded low front-central A-class vowel/a/ is found in words such as:

Example 1

a.

la

/la/

drawer

b.

trema

/tre.ma/

[ˈtrema]

diaeresis

c.

gitaar

/xi.tar/

[xiˈtar]

guitar

d.

granaat

/xra.nat/

[xraˈnat]

grenade, shell

It is spelled with a single letter <a> in open syllables; this letter is doubled (<aa>) in closed syllables.

Figure 1(cf. Gussenhoven 1992) depicts the (Dutch) vowel's position within the vowel chart.

Figure 1: Vowel chart

[click image to enlarge]

Articulation

/a/ is an unrounded, low, front-central, A-class vowel. The tongue body is relatively neutral, and the jaw lowered
(Collins and Mees 2003;Eijkman 1937).

Duration

/a/ is the longest monophthongal vowel of Dutch
(Adank et al. 2004;Collins and Mees 2003). In Northern Standard Dutch, it has a fronted and raised allophone before
/r/, and is retracted before
/l/(Collins and Mees 2003). Absolute duration varies with the type of speech and speaking rate, but reported average durations have ranged from 102 ms in spontaneous speech
(Jacobi 2009) to 214 ms in elicited read speech
(Adank et al. 2004).

/a/ is most profitably seen as an A-class vowel, and as an alternant of the
B-class vowel[ɑ] (see
Phonology of /ɑ/). From the argument above, it follows in any case that
/a/ and
/ɑ/ differ only in whatever feature it is that distinguishes A from B-class vowels. However, in this particular case, the vowels seem closer to each other than other pairs of A and B-class vowels. For instance we find variation that is not otherwise attested in such pairs. E.g.:

Example 2

Canada

[kanada]

/

[kɑnadɑ]

/

[kɑnɑda]

/

[kɑnɑdɑ]

/

[*kanadɑ]

/

[*kanɑdɑ]

This variation is at least partially regional and has not been seriously studied; it seems to us for instance, that [ɑ] at the end of the word is only found in Flanders. What exactly determines the reason why some a[a]’s can be realized as [ɑ]'s or vice versa, whereas others cannot, is not clear. Also otherwise, the two vowels seem sometimes to change position. For instance, the generalization that intervocalic fricatives are voiced after a tautomorphemic A-class vowel and voiceless after a B-class vowel has exceptions exactly with this pair:

Example 3

a.

mazzel

[mɑzəl]

good luck

b.

Pasen

[pasən]

Easter

Interaction with other glides

Unlike other A-class vowels, there is no glide insertion after
/a/ before another vowel. Instead, a glottal stop is inserted in words such as
chaos[xaʔɔs]chaos.

Behaviour before
/r/

When placed before an
/r/ consonant, in the same foot, the vowel lengthens to
[aː](Gussenhoven 1993).

Phonotactics

Like other A-class vowels
/a/ can occur at the end of a syllable; and like other A-class vowels
/ø/ tends to not occur before two non-coronal consonants, with the exception of the numeral
twaalftwelve and placenames such as
MaarnMaarn.